After initially announcing plans to go public via SPAC merger in March, sports data provider Sportradar has filed for an IPO in the U.S. 

This follows its June withdrawal from the merger with Horizon Acquisition Corp. — backed by L.A. Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly.

The Switzerland-based company listed the IPO size at $100 million, though that number is expected to change. When planning to go public via SPAC, both sides had agreed to bring the company to market at a $10 billion valuation.

Aside from losing exclusive NFL data rights to Genius Sports in April, Sportradar’s year has been rather successful.

• July: Agreed to a five-year sports betting partnership with Bally’s
• June: Announced a 10-year global partnership with the NHL
• May: Bought InteractSport, a cricket-focused Australian sports data company
• March: Entered an agreement to acquire college data provider Synergy Sports

Sportradar CEO and founder Carsten Koerl said that new betting markets like the U.S. are among “numerous” growth opportunities for the company. The global sports betting industry reached $203 billion last year.

JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are set to lead the public offering.

E-commerce giant eBay pulled down listings from its biggest trading card seller, PWCC Marketplace, following claims of shill bidding. 

PWCC has likely generated at least $200 million worth of gross sales on eBay in the last year, per Action Network. 

“Shill bidding,” a form of auction fraud, is the act of bidding on one’s own item to increase its price, desirability, or search standing. PWCC refuted eBay’s claim, saying the platform never presented any evidence.

• eBay’s “State of Trading Cards” report revealed a 142% increase in domestic sales in 2020 compared to 2019.
• Nearly all of its sports cards categories experienced growth in 2020, but soccer increased 1,586% and basketball 373% year-over-year. 
• More than 4 million cards were sold on eBay last year.

PWCC has been at the center of controversy in the past. 

In 2019, the Oregon-based company worked with law enforcement to investigate the sale of altered vintage cards through its service. PWCC later ended its relationship with the dealer implicated in the allegations.

On Tuesday, PWCC had 17,879 live auctions available for bid on eBay. That number fell to zero in less than 24 hours.

The NHL became the latest league to allow jersey ads with a unanimous vote from its board of governors.

The patches will debut in the 2022-2023 season. Negotiations with corporate sponsors may begin immediately, according to an email sent to teams this week. 

Ads can be as large as 3 x 3.5 inches — bigger than the NBA’s 2.5 x 2.5 inch patches. The location of the patch on the jersey will be determined individually by each team. 

The move should provide a fresh influx of revenue as the league recovers from pandemic losses.

• NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that teams “retained more than $100 million in revenue” from helmet ads and other changes introduced last season.
• The league will continue allowing helmet ads.
• NBA jersey patches, permitted since the 2017-2018 season, bring in an estimated $150 million annually.

The NHL’s revenue fell 14% year-over-year in the 2019-2020 season to $4.4 billion. Operating income fell 68% to $250 million and team values dropped 2% from the previous year, the first decline since 2001.